NSW coach Craig Bellamy has slammed video referee Bill Harrigan’s decision to disallow a try to impressive Blues winger Jarryd Hayne early in the opening State of Origin clash at Etihad Stadium.
Hayne appeared to have given the Blues a surprise 6-0 lead when he flew past opposing winger Israel Folau and raced down the left touchline before beating Billy Slater to touch down in the corner.
The decision was passed to the video referee, with Harrigan taking several minutes before ruling Hayne’s left foot had brushed the sideline.
The Maroons went on to win the match 28-18 despite a spirited NSW fightback in the second half.
“I think (Harrigan) had a look at that (replay) seven or eight times – where’s the benefit of the doubt?” said Bellamy.
“I don’t know whether he’s seen the boot touch the sideline on the eighth go or the seventh go, when he couldn’t see it in the first, second, third or fourth.
“To me that’s benefit of the doubt.
“I don’t know how he could come up with that decision to be quite honest.”
Hayne was also adamant he had scored a legitimate try.
“It was a 50-50 call but I always thought the attacking team got the benefit of the doubt unless the rule was changed or something,” he said.
Bellamy also thought Hayne was wrongly penalised a few minutes after the no-try ruling, with Greg Inglis scoring in the resulting set of six.
“I also thought we got a really tough penalty call before halftime,” said Bellamy.
“I thought Ben Creagh got to his feet to play the ball and I thought Mick Crocker pushed him back down again.
“But at the end of the day we needed to respond better after that no try of Hayne’s.
“The next 10 minutes they basically had seven or eight sets in a row and our defence just wasn’t up to it inside our 20m zone and that’s when they got the three tries.
“It just took a bit of confidence out of our young team.”
Bellamy paid tribute to the performance of NSW skipper Kurt Gidley, although the Newcastle star marked himself hard for two crucial errors in the final 10 minutes.
In the 73rd minute and with the Blues only trailing by six points, he had a foot on the line while playing the ball in the in-goal.
And in the dying seconds, Gidley knocked on, allowing the Maroons to swing the ball to winger Darius Boyd who scored their fifth try.
“I thought that I’d got past those sort of things and you just can’t make those sort of errors at club footy, let along at this level,” said Gidley.
“It’s something I won’t forget and I’ll do everything I can in the next one to get those out of my game.”
Clock for opening State of Origin match at Etihad Stadium on Wednesday night
3rd minute – Queensland prop Steve Price knocks on, giving NSW good field position 35m out.
5th – Maroons hooker Cameron Smith concedes a penalty right in front of the posts for raking the ball from Anthony Laffranchi in a two-man tackle. NSW skipper Kurt Gidley opts to take the kick from directly in front. NSW lead 2-0.
8th – Blues winger Jarryd Hayne denied what would have been a spectacular try after the video referee ruled his left foot had brushed the sideline after he went around Israel Folau before touching down in the left corner.
11th – A flying Billy Slater grounds Smith grubber centimetres inside the line for the opening try of the game. Johnathan Thurston converts the try. Qld lead 6-2.
14th – Folau wins a contentious penalty after being obstructed by Hayne as he flies for a high ball.
15th – Slater passes to Greg Inglis who crashes through two attempted tackles to touch down for the Maroons’ second try. Thurston kicks the difficult conversion. Qld lead 12-2.
19th – Thurston dives on clever grubber kick by Folau for Maroons’ third try in eight minutes with several Blues defenders watching on helplessly. Thurston converts his own try. Qld lead 18-2.
24th – Maroons centre Justin Hodges limps off with a knee injury.
27th – Hayne wins penalty for NSW after having ball stripped in two-man tackle.
28th – Blues second-rower Luke O’Donnell looks certain to score, only for Slater to strip the ball over the try-line.
33rd – Hayne sets up the Blues’ first try after flicking a speculative pass back into play just before being pushed into the corner post. Despite the pass appearing to be forward, Ben Creagh is awarded the try. Gidley misses conversion. Qld lead 18-6.
39th – Thurston misses field goal attempt.Qld lead 18-6 at halftime.
Second half
43rd – Thurston passes to Inglis who scorches past Blues winger James McManus and runs 75m to touch down in the left corner. Thurston converts the try. Qld lead 24-6.
53rd – The impressive Hayne beats Folau in the air for a high ball. Blues rewarded with a penalty with Maroons’ kick chasers ruled off-side.
56th – Luke Lewis runs onto a kick from Blues halfback Peter Wallace and gets a short off-load to Craig Wing who scores only a few minutes after coming onto the ground. Gidley kicks conversion. Qld leads 24-12.
68th – Blues hooker Robbie Farah regathers his own deflected kick and gets away a pass to the flying Hayne, who touches down under the posts. Gidley converts the try. Qld lead 24-18.
73rd – Bad mistake by Gidley who picks up the ball in the in-goal with his foot on the sideline.
74th – Queensland captain Darren Lockyer misses a field goal attempt.
80th – Gidley knocks on in the dying seconds, handing possession back to Queensland 30m from the try-line.
80th – Maroons attack down the left in the final play of the game with Inglis getting an off-load to Darius Boyd who scores the try. Thurston misses the conversion. Qld win 28-18 to take 1-0 lead in the best of three series.
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